1997 California 500 Presented by NAPA

Race 15 of 32

Fontana
250 laps
Time of race: 3:13:32
Average speed of winner: 155.012 mph
Margin of victory: 1.074 sec.
Lead changes: 21 among 12 drivers
Cautions: 4 for 22 laps
Lap leaders: Nemechek 1, Dallenbach 2-7, Gordon 8-31, B. Bodine 32, Schrader 33-40, Gordon 41-70, Martin 71-72, Gordon 73-77, Martin 78-80, Spencer 81, Craven 82-84, Gordon 85-96, Jarrett 97-141, Craven 142-146, Irvan 147-152, Jarrett 153-156, T. Labonte 157-197, Spencer 198-200, D. Waltrip 201-202, Gordon 203-233, Martin 234-239, Gordon 240-250

Race notes: First pole for Joe Nemechek.

Video links: Entire race

Finish	Start	Driver	Car #	Sponsor	Car	Owner	Crew Chief	Qualifying Speed	Laps	X Led	Laps Led	Status	Money	Points
1	3	Jeff Gordon	24	DuPont Automotive Finishes	Chevrolet	Hendrick	Evernham	182.894	250	6	113	running	144600	185
2	10	Terry Labonte	5	Kellogg's Corn Flakes	Chevrolet	Hendrick	DeHart	181.915	250	1	41	running	100825	175
3	39	Ricky Rudd	10	Tide	Ford	Rudd	Long	provisional	250	0	0	running	78525	165
4	20	Ted Musgrave	16	The Family Channel/PrimeStar	Ford	Roush	Ince	180.814	250	0	0	running	64975	160
5	19	Jimmy Spencer	23	Camel Cigarettes	Ford	Carter	Wingo	180.900	250	2	4	running	54775	160
6	15	Bobby Labonte	18	Interstate Batteries	Pontiac	Gibbs	Makar	181.493	250	0	0	running	48950	150
7	7	Jeff Green	29	Cartoon Network	Chevrolet	Diamond Ridge		182.283	250	0	0	running	38450	146
8	9	Dale Jarrett	88	Quality Care/Ford Credit	Ford	Yates	Todd Parrott	182.163	250	2	49	running	58750	147
9	11	Ricky Craven	25	Budweiser	Chevrolet	Hendrick	Graves	181.823	250	2	8	running	42350	143
10	12	Mark Martin	6	Valvoline	Ford	Roush	Fennig	181.653	249	3	11	out of gas	48450	139
11	18	Michael Waltrip	21	CITGO	Ford	Wood Brothers	Eddie Wood	181.018	249	0	0	running	40275	130
12	21	Jeremy Mayfield	37	Kmart/RC Cola	Ford	Kranefuss	Andrews	180.796	249	0	0	running	32175	127
13	13	Johnny Benson, Jr.	30	Pennzoil	Pontiac	Bahari	Hewitt	181.607	249	0	0	running	38075	124
14	16	Rusty Wallace	2	Miller Lite	Ford	Penske	Pemberton	181.383	249	0	0	running	42975	121
15	8	Darrell Waltrip	17	Parts America	Chevrolet	Waltrip	Hammond	182.209	249	1	2	running	37725	123
16	14	Dale Earnhardt	3	GM Goodwrench Service	Chevrolet	Childress	McReynolds	181.493	249	0	0	running	41975	115
17	41	Steve Grissom	41	Kodiak	Chevrolet	Hedrick	Pressley	provisional	249	0	0	running	36175	112
18	1	Joe Nemechek	42	BellSouth	Chevrolet	SABCO	Hillman	183.015	248	1	1	running	40375	114
19	24	Chad Little	97	John Deere	Pontiac	ppc	Holly	180.655	248	0	0	running	28575	106
20	22	Lake Speed	9	Melling Auto Parts	Ford	Melling	Buice	180.764	248	0	0	running	29325	103
21	35	John Andretti	98	RCA	Ford	Yarborough	Furr	182.168	248	0	0	running	34975	100
22	42	Dick Trickle	90	Heilig-Meyers/Simmons	Ford	Donlavey	Bob Johnson	provisional	248	0	0	running	27675	97
23	30	Bobby Hamilton	43	STP	Pontiac	Petty	Loomis	182.727	247	0	0	running	39175	94
24	31	Morgan Shepherd	77	Jasper Engines/Federal Mogul	Ford	Jasper		182.537	247	0	0	running	23975	91
25	34	David Green	96	Caterpillar	Chevrolet	Buz McCall	Johns	182.232	247	0	0	running	23775	88
26	36	Brett Bodine	11	Close Call Phone Card	Ford	Brett Bodine	Richeson	182.108	247	1	1	running	33775	90
27	26	Greg Sacks	40	Coors Light	Chevrolet	SABCO	Glover	183.753	246	0	0	running	33975	82
28	40	Ward Burton	22	MBNA America	Pontiac	Bill Davis	Hussey	provisional	246	0	0	running	33175	79
29	23	Derrike Cope	36	Skittles	Pontiac	MB2	Ryan Pemberton	180.741	245	0	0	running	25975	76
30	25	Jeff Burton	99	Exide Batteries	Ford	Roush	Buddy Parrott	180.614	244	0	0	running	37775	73
31	38	Kyle Petty	44	Hot Wheels	Pontiac	Petty	Kennedy	181.974	243	0	0	running	25100	70
32	17	Bill Elliott	94	McDonald's	Ford	Elliott	Beam	181.159	241	0	0	out of gas	29400	67
33	28	Mike Skinner	31	Lowe's	Chevrolet	Childress	Hamlin	183.383	225	0	0	engine	22200	64
34	5	Ken Schrader	33	Skoal Bandit	Chevrolet	Petree	Petree	182.593	219	1	8	engine	29000	66
35	6	Geoff Bodine	7	QVC	Ford	Geoff Bodine	Tryson	182.482	215	0	0	engine	28800	58
36	29	Sterling Marlin	4	Kodak Film	Chevrolet	Morgan-McClure	Brewer	183.071	206	0	0	engine	37700	55
37	2	Ernie Irvan	28	Texaco/Havoline	Ford	Yates	Reno	182.927	202	1	6	engine	36500	57
38	33	Jerry Nadeau	1	R+L Carriers	Pontiac	Richard Jackson		182.288	174	0	0	running	28000	49
39	4	Wally Dallenbach, Jr.	46	First Union	Chevrolet	SABCO		182.755	173	1	6	electrical	21000	51
40	32	Dave Marcis	71	Realtree Camouflage	Chevrolet	Marcis	Marcis	182.436	146	0	0	engine	21000	43
41	37	Rick Mast	75	Remington Arms	Ford	Mock	Charpentier	182.048	94	0	0	engine	28000	40
42	27	Hut Stricklin	8	Circuit City	Ford	Stavola Brothers	Lopez	183.458	28	0	0	accident	28000	37

Points standings

Rank	Driver	Points	Starts	Poles	Wins	Top 5s	Top 10s
1	Jeff Gordon	2295	15	1	7	12	12
2	Mark Martin	2203	15	2	2	8	11
3	Terry Labonte	2176	15	0	0	6	12
4	Dale Jarrett	2123	15	2	2	8	10
5	Jeff Burton	1971	15	0	1	7	9
6	Dale Earnhardt	1948	15	0	0	1	7
7	Bobby Labonte	1895	15	1	0	4	9
8	Ricky Rudd	1875	15	0	1	4	7
9	Michael Waltrip	1753	15	0	0	0	5
10	Jeremy Mayfield	1726	15	0	0	2	5
11	Ted Musgrave	1718	15	0	0	3	4
12	Bill Elliott	1679	15	0	0	3	5
13	Johnny Benson, Jr.	1625	15	0	0	0	4
14	Rusty Wallace	1602	15	1	1	4	6
15	Darrell Waltrip	1602	15	0	0	1	4
16	Ernie Irvan	1563	15	0	1	2	5
17	Bobby Hamilton	1521	15	1	0	2	3
18	Jimmy Spencer	1518	15	0	0	1	2
19	Sterling Marlin	1488	15	0	0	1	3
20	Ken Schrader	1484	15	0	0	0	3
21	Brett Bodine	1456	15	0	0	0	2
22	Kyle Petty	1444	15	0	0	1	2
23	Ward Burton	1410	15	0	0	0	3
24	Morgan Shepherd	1352	14	0	0	1	3
25	Derrike Cope	1328	14	0	0	0	1